Film's One-Hit Wonders: 30 Directors With Only One Good Movie

by Jason Dietz, Metacritic Features Editor – April 15, 2018

Even the worst directors have one good film in them. Well, at least some of them do. In the gallery above, we've identified 30 filmmakers from the past four decades who have directed at least five features but have managed to receive positive reviews for just a single one of their films.

Adam Shankman

The occasional So You Think You Can Dance judge had a long career as a dancer and choreographer (among other pursuits) prior to making his directorial debut with 2001 rom-com The Wedding Planner. Given his background, it seems fitting that his best movie (by a wide margin) is a musical: the 2007 film adaptation of the Broadway adaptation of John Waters' Hairspray. But another musical, Rock of Ages, was a commercial and critical dud (though it was the only other Shankman film not to be hammered by reviewers), and his career average as a director is just 42.

Shankman has been producing more than directing in recent years, with credits including the Step Up film series. His next film as director could be a sequel to Disney's 2007 musical Enchanted.

The one good film:
81 Hairspray (2007)

Everything else:
33 The Wedding Planner (2001)
35 A Walk to Remember (2002)
39 Bringing Down the House (2003)
30 The Pacifier (2005)
34 Cheaper by the Dozen 2 (2005)
33 Bedtime Stories (2008)
47 Rock of Ages (2012)

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